In the year 1622, in the Gregorian calendar, January 1 is declared as the first day of the year, instead of March 25 (Jan 1), Jamestown massacre in Virginia begins the_ American Indian Wars_ (Mar 22), Portuguese forces successfully defend Macau from the Dutch fleet, keeping a Portuguese foothold in the Far East (Jun 24), Armand Jean du Plessis becomes Cardinal Richelieu (Sep 5), the first Huguenot rebellion ends (Oct 18) – and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

The official flag of New York City. The seal depicts Dexter, a sailor representing the first European settlers, and Sinister, a native Manhatten indian. The shield has sails of a windmill, and flour barrels representing industry, and beavers, taken from the seal of New Netherland. Picture credit Dave Fletcher In the year 1625, Charles Stuart succeeds to the throne on the death of his father, King James I of England (Mar 27), the Dutch settle in Manhattan, founding the town of New Amsterdam, an English colony is established in Barbados, Johann Rudolf Glauber discovers sodium sulfate in Austrian spring water – and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Comparison of the antiquated view and the outcome of Galileo’s experiment In the year 1602, the Dutch East India Company is established with the intention of capturing the spice trade from the Portuguese (Mar 20), the alliance of Persia and Spain declare war on the Ottoman Empire, the Portuguese are expelled from Bahrain, Galileo begins his study of falling bodies around this time - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Ksenia Sukhinova, Miss World 2008 Miss World pageant is the oldest of the Big Four international beauty pageants, created by Eric Morley in 1951. The corner stone of the pageant has always been, and still is, beauty. Naturally. But it has come a long way from the winner touring with Bob Hope and having a girly role in the next James Bond film. These days it is for many of the participants a stepping stone to a diversity of careers. Continue reading

This time in First Names First we concentrate on the Finnish male name Teemu. And it is a very Finnish name indeed, evidenced by all of the men you see here below being Finns. The name is derived from the Greek name Nicodemus (Νικόδημος) which comes from the words nike (victory) and demos (people), i.e. the winner of people. Teemu Selänne* hockey player/OS/SC – Helsinki, Finland (1970) pic Teemu Keskisarja* historian/author – Helsinki, Finland (1971) Continue reading

A month ago we started a new article series here in Journeys of Life - Occupations! In these articles we go through some lesser known occupations. Occupations and job titles that may leave some of us wondering what the work actually entails. So, this time around we talk about best boy. Which many of us have surely seen at the end credits of a film. But do you know what it means? Continue reading

The Spring of Kirsten Piil. His discovery of a natural spring drew large crowds in the area. This attracted entertainers and hawkers, whose presence led to the creation of Dyrehavsbakken. In the year 1583, as of the start of the year, the Gregorian calendar - the calendar used in most of the world - is 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar, Toyotomi Hideyoshi defeats Shibata Katsuie at Shizugatake, and goes on to commence construction of Osaka Castle (May), Sir Humphrey Gilbert claims the island of Newfoundland on behalf of England, marking the beginning of the British Empire (Aug 5), the world’s oldest operating amusement park, Dyrehavsbakken, is founded - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Achaea on Peloponnesos, Greece In the year 1399, Richard II of England (a.k.a. Richard of Bordeaux) is taken prisoner upon his return from Ireland (Aug 19), the English parliament accepts Henry Bolingbroke as the new king of England (Sep 30), and he is crowned as Henry IV (Oct 13), the Principality of Achaea resists an invasion by the Ottoman Empire, Novgorod forces make frequent attacks in northern Finland, the Kingdom of Mysore (surviving until 1950) in India is founded - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1630, native American Quadequine of the Wampanoag tribe introduces popcorn to English colonists (Feb 22), Swedish warships depart from Stockholm for Central Europe (Jun 6), and a month later make landfall at Peenemünde in Pomerania (Jul 6), the Treaty of Stettin is signed; Sweden gets full military control over Pomerania (Sep 4), the city of Boston, Massachusetts, is founded (Sep 7), the Deccan Famine begins in India, and it will kill 2 million people during the next two years - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Korean stop sign, saying “Jeongji”. But for sure, many do have the English word STOP on them too. Let us stop for a minute and have something else here in Language Day - a quick look at the Korean language for us who know absolutely nothing about it! This is a very simple introduction to Korean, and more precisely, the language spoken in South Korea. Many of us Westerners don’t even know whether the Korean characters are alphabets or logographic characters like the Chinese script, or kanji in Japanese. Continue reading

In the year 1400, Henry IV of England executes Earls of Kent, Huntingdon and Salisbury, and the Baron de Despencer for their attempt to have Richard II restored as king (Jan) who then soon dies in captivity (Feb 14), the English occupy Edinburgh, but fail to capture Edinburgh Castle (Aug), the Mississippian Culture starts to decline, the Kingdom of Kongo begins, remaining mostly independent for nearly 500 years - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

The Nantes Cathedral, completed 457 years later, in 1891 In the year 1434, the foundation stone of Nantes Cathedral in France is laid (Apr 14), miner Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson begins a rebellion against King Eric of Pomerania (Jun), eventually leading the king to lose his power in Sweden (Aug 16), the Medici family rises to prominence in Florence, Portuguese traders deliver their first cargo of African slaves to Lisbon - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

It is Thanksgiving Day today - in the United States. In Canada they already celebrated it, the second Monday in October. And yet in some other countries some other day. But no matter when that special day is, it is always time to appreciate and reflect upon our lives. Every day could be a thanksgiving day. A day to think what we are thankful for. Grateful for. And blessed with. Continue reading

Delaney is the name in today’s First Names First! It is originally an Irish surname. As a first name it is not very common, and has been in fact been given to both men and women. Here treated as a girl’s name as this is the women’s day. So take your pick, and find some inspiring stories behind the names. Give this a couple of minutes for lives lived have all something worthwhile to tell us. Continue reading

Earth seen from the surface of the Moon In the year 1634, Belgian scientist Jan Baptist van Helmont is interrogated by the Spanish Inquisition and put on house arrest for his experiments into plant growth (Mar), Leonard Calvert arrives in Maryland, establishing St. Mary’s and an institution of higher learning which later becomes Georgetown University (May 25), Curaçao is captured by the Dutch, Johannes Kepler’s Somnium - fictional account of the view from the moon - is published posthumously by his son - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Jersey City seen from Ellis Island. Picture credit: Pavel Kuritsyn This time Streets & Squares goes to Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, USA. Jersey City is the second-most populous city of New Jersey, after Newark. It was incorporated as a city in February 1838. As always, clicking on the addresses will open Google Maps for you, and clicking on the names will (usually) lead to the person’s Wikipedia page. After each address there is usually also a link to Google’s street view which takes you straight to somewhere along that street. Continue reading

The Eyalet of Kibris is today the Republic of Cyprus, comprising the Greek (southern ) and the Turkish (northern) side of the island In the year 1571, the Royal Exchange opens in London, England (Jan 23), Moscow is burnt by the Crimean army (May 24), Cyprus is established as an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire, and the first Turkish colony moves into the island (Aug 1), Taipalsaari in Southern Karelia, Finland is founded, the great silver flow that links the New and Old Worlds begins as mercury starts being used in the silver extraction process in the Potosí mine - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. Picture credit Amazon In the year 1605, the first part of Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote is published in Madrid, and becomes a global bestseller almost at once (Jan 16), a proclamation declares all people of Ireland to be the direct subjects of the British Crown (Mar 11), Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien, generally recognised as the world’s first newspaper, is published in Strasbourg for the first time (Oct) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1579, the Union of Utrecht unites the northern Netherlands in a confederation called the United Provinces (Jan 23), Francis Drake lands in what is now California, and claims it for Queen Elizabeth I - that and the claim in Newfoundland becomes the basis for English colonial charters which will claim all land from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from “sea to sea” (Jun 17) - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading

In the year 1209, settlers from Bristol celebrating Easter Monday are massacred in Dublin by warriors of the Irish O’Byrne clan (Apr), the University of Cambridge is founded, the London Bridge is completed by a stone-arched structure and with houses on it to pay for part of the maintenance, the Franciscan order of the Roman Catholic Church is founded by the Italian priest Francis of Assisi - and all these fine people were born: Continue reading